@jjss49 Would you mind commenting on the differences between two units still in your possession, the Weiss DAC501-4ch and the Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 / M Scaler combo that are in the same price range?
dacs that I have had in my system - a listing
i comment quite a bit on threads about digital/analog converters, as i have tried many since the covid period in early 2020, when i recommitted to my hifi and getting streaming and a truly modern digital front end implemented in my main home system
i have had questions on what dacs i have actually tried -- so last week when i was sleepless on a long transcontinental flight home from a holiday, i made a listing, which i post below
almost all dacs below have been owned, and spent extensive time (at least 2-3 months) in my system, obviously there have been changes in my system over this time, and not all dacs were owned at the same time
i post this here so others can refer to this here - i looked, but i could not find a way to post this on my 'system' page
the asterisk-ed entries are still in hand, currently:
2020
topping d90 mqa
ayre codex
mhdt stockholm
mhdt orchid
mhdt istanbul
denafrips pontus original
musical paradise mpd1
ps audio d link iii modded cullen
bs node 2i
2021
denafrips ares 2
denafrips pontus 2
denafrips terminator
auris d1d vu
audio mirror tubador 3 se
van alstine fet topp*
van alstine fet hybrid
rme adi 2 (akm)
schiit modius
schiit gumby
schiit yggy*
sonnet morpheus
border patrol se i
metrum jade
metrum octave
metrum hex
metrum adagio
musical fidelity trivista 21 (modded)*
weiss 501* (now 4ch)
2022
chord 2qute
chord qutest
chord m scaler* hugo tt2*
mhdt orchid modded*
audio note kits dac4 pro
msb analog w powerbase*
denafrips venus 2*
denafrips pontus 12
audio gd master 7
musetec 005
bs node n130
bricasti m1se mdx
doge 7
hegel h90 190 390 590* (internal)
2023
gustard r26*
eversolo dmp a6 master*
mhdt toucan
orchard pecan pi*
cambridge audio cxn2 modwright modded tubed*
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- 113 posts total
In the past 3 years I also did a mini-me version of @jjss49 DAC testing (at home for long period) with the following DACs:
I also used a Sonore OpticalRendu for streaming to USB via fibre. The only DACs I have left are the Yggi+, modded Peachtree GAN1, and the Benchmark DAC3B. I plan on ’upgrading’ the DAC3B with a PlayBack Designs Dream DAC relatively soon. The 2 best DACs I have had are the Yggi+ Less is More and the modded GAN1. The Lumin X1 is also up there but I liked the Yggi+ better and it cost a ton less. The GAN1 is not really a DAC but the end result is pretty amazing, The stock version is not comparable to the modded one I have.
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tonally, the scaler/hugo tt2 sounds very very similar to the weiss, they both have extended airy detailed treble, a nicely saturated, well textured midrange, true tone/timbre, and powerful quick deep tuneful bass in terms of imaging, the scaler/tt2 has similar image density and width but slightly greater depth (in terms of depth of stage think of the weiss as an ’8’ and the chord stack as a ’9/10’ -- both delineate instruments quite precisely -- on excellent recordings, one can hear the treble of the chord stack has a touch more sheen, silkiness, more ambiance decay, whereas the weiss is a little more matter-of-fact the sonic differences are quite slight between the two... i would think most would judge them as pretty much identical this said, each has certain tricks up their respective sleeves... weiss has numerous useful eq and importantly, a brilliantly easy to use room bass mode adjustment (quite transformative of sound in some situations) and the tt2 has 4 filter settings to dial down the treble if one desires, and of course, the scaler can be used separately to upsample into other dacs too if ever desired sidebar: i have come to firmly believe that upsampling really helps dacs do good filtering and analog signal reconstruction, and this helps dacs sound more natural and manage sibilance
if you have been a very happy qutest user, i would heartily suggest moving up to a hugo tt2 -- they are in the $3500 used range now...tt2 preserves all the strengths of the qutest but adds even greater subtlety and saturation to the sonic palette -- otherwise, you can write more about your system, what sonic presentation and features you prefer and i can share additional thoughts
haha, not really interested, i am somewhat camera shy 😂🤣 , not to mention i am rather turned off by the yt click-bait game -- what i am is a loyal, longtime a-gon member, been here from the start, learned so much here over the years from other dedicated audiophiles who generously shared their experiences and learnings (especially re analog), so at this point, i am happy to pay it back now to others, feel zero need to monetize my opinions/experience |
- 113 posts total